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The Mysterious Septology Symbol

by David Haber

One month ago, on March 28, fans finally got to see the artwork for the covers of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and intense debate about the meaning of the imagery on the covers immediately ensued. But there is one small, obscure bit of the new images of the Book 7 cover art we haven't yet discussed.

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Reader Comments: (Page 18)

With Dumbledore being an animagus? Firslty this is illogical, as all known animaguses have been non-magical creatures. It would be pointless to be a magical creature, lets say for example a pheonix, hmmm, immortality? I don't think so. Secondly, Dumbledore would be registered, yet he is not. A contradiction to his total character. Thirdly, don't you think that it may seem a nice a idea, but even though his patronus is in that shape, no other wizard or witches, who have a magical connection to animals, for example look like their connection. That is my point of view, but i am happy for people to contend this.

Posted by M.P.Eisfelder on July 8, 2007 9:24 PM

Although delta shouldn't be Dumbledore, because in some other languages Dumbledore's translated name doesn't start with a D, I agree with Delta and Phi as something plausible. Delta and Phi could refer to alchemy or secret societies. In star wars, spaceships have a general shape inspired by either delta or phi. Phi is the golden number, the "divine proportion".

Posted by herve from strasbourg on July 9, 2007 12:52 AM

Thats great Ed.Can that mean that Dumbledore and Fawkes represent oneness and that fawkes has a part of soul of Dumbledore; that Fawkes is a horcrux of Dumbledore?

Posted by anu from india on July 9, 2007 02:53 AM

Fawkes isn't a horcrux, Dumbledore would never make one (they are evil because they split the soul).

I think dumbledore is but may have left help for Harry (his brother for sure). Not sure if anyone saw the JKR interview on Jonathan Ross recently but she said writing one of the chapters she cried and found it really hard to do. I believe this was the of Hagrid.

So far father figures for harry have been dropping like flies, leaving him to defeat voldemort on his own. It's a classic story. So really dumbledore isn't going to come from the ashes he is in fact .

Posted by Tom from England on July 9, 2007 11:49 AM

I can buy the solution only in as much as it demonstrates the close (dare say magical) connection/relationship that Dumbledore had with Fawkes. However, it cannot be used to interpret the miraculous return of Dumbledore since Rowling told us explicitly he was and would not be "pulling a Gandalf" to come save the day.

Posted by Seyah from SLC Ut on July 9, 2007 1:22 PM

Why does everybody have to be an Animangus? According to various theories, Mundungus, Regulas, Dumbledore, and at least seven other people are Animangi. According to Hermione, there have only been 7 in the last century (registered at least). There have already been 4 (James, Sirius, Wormtail, and Rita Skeeter), that we know of that aren't registered. Isn't that enough?

Posted by Anonymous on July 9, 2007 1:33 PM

Yes, but when we put together the symbols on JKRs site to take the test, they were shown as three seperate symbols.

Posted by Reg from Houston on July 9, 2007 2:14 PM

I appreciate the support for my Greek letter idea. It's entirely plausable that the symbol is delta and phi, but there is a hitch: Although phoenix is a Greek word, Dumbledore is not. There is no grammatical reason that Dumbledore's name should be represented by a Greek letter.

Since the Greek word "diataxi" means "order" the symbol could be a monogram for "order of the phoenix." But, such an introduction a not-widely-known Greek word would be out of place in the story as we know it so far.

D for Dumbledore is problably still the best explanation. It does make a neat graphic. The phi fits inside the delta as a phoenix feather fits in a wand.

Posted by Ed Ford from Sandy, Utah on July 9, 2007 3:48 PM

How can the "phi" stand for fawkes, "Fawkes" is a proper noun, and the symbol has a lower case "phi". I like the idea of the greek alphabet, butI think that these letters spell something different.

Posted by Oscar from IL on July 9, 2007 5:31 PM

I completely agree with Ed's correction. It doesn't make sense to represent Non-greek names by Greek abbreviations.

It just means "Order of the Phoenix"; this also solves language issues. It is just the counterpart of the dark mark of the eaters.

Posted by Siekie on July 10, 2007 05:38 AM

Siekie: I think you're being too literal. It's just a clue. J.K. Rowling has planted "Delta" and "Phi" as clues to make us think of "Dumbledore" and "Phoenix" in the symbol.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on July 10, 2007 05:39 AM

Thanks for the clarification of the letters and showing the hitch. Knowing that the "delta" could stand for Order thus making the symbol stand for Order of the Phoenix, it makes more sense to me since the Order most likely play a larger role in the last book. If Dumbledore has orchestrated his as part of a Grand Plan as so many believe, then he obviously set in motion many parts of that plan to take place even if they may be behind the scenes.

Posted by Seyah from SLC Ut on July 10, 2007 08:01 AM

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